Exploring Life During a New Phase.

Menu

My Special Guest Posts!

Welcome to a new addition to NewLifeDuringMidlife……I am very proud and honored to add a page for special guest blog Exchanges. My first Special Guest that I have had the honor ofExchanging posts with is a favorite blog of mine to read. Please be sure to visit HONEYGOODfor great articles and advice.https://honeygood.com/

By Susan “Honey” Good

Ten years of living in Honolulu, Hawaii had the most positive and profound impact on my life. I am grateful for the experiences and I hope that my story will have an impact on you.

Living in the islands connected me to my love of nature, my deep spirituality and it reminded me to simply be. It was not until I was 37 that I realized my love of nature, my deep spirituality and my desire for simplicity had been ‘planted’ in my DNA by the island. I am grateful.

On the island, I was surrounded by the Pacific Ocean and the vision of Diamond Head Mountain was displayed through my window. The sun seemed to rise out of the sea and the moon reflected onto the ocean each night. Orchid plants gave me a daily dose of joy and trade winds quietly blew through the palms, bringing me happiness and personal growth. For ten years I could ‘simply be.’

Of course I had misgivings, problems and too much nonsense going on in my life, but the easy, laid-back, simple island lifestyle kept me focused on what was really important – allowing me to fall back into a healthy reality. I am grateful.

I left my island life due to the death of my late husband and moved to my beautiful Chicago and my apartment in the sky overlooking Lake Michigan. The lake reminds me of the Pacific Ocean because of its grandiose size. I have orchids and live trees in our home to bring nature into my life. I thrive as I watch the morning sun rising over the lake and the moon shining its light onto the water. I am grateful that my apartment is surrounded by water and blue skies during the day and the moon and brightly shining stars at night. Our home is my island and I am grateful that my ultimate concierge loves, guards and protects me, just as he respects my need for spirituality and peace.

However, no man is an island and no man stands alone. Life gets in my way and I have certain obligations that I cannot avoid. I have family and community demands, social pressures and the ever widening demands of contacts, interests and duties. My mind reels from it all. The island was able to settle me, take me back to the reality of what was really important and help me reflect on that which I did not need. The island’s personality simplified my lifestyle and I was grateful.

I am sure my feelings make you question yourselves. What is the answer to a meaningful lifestyle? An appreciation for simplification. But how? Balance.

So let us pare down our material possessions. Be who you are. Don’t wear a mask. Do away with unnecessary complications. Delete. Simplifying your outer lifestyle will never be enough.

Understand the real answer to how you want to live your life is in your DNA. Search until you find it. And when you do, be grateful.